Unified English Braille Update Issue 12January2016

Mandy White

Braille subject Lead

Welcome to the twelfth edition of UEB Update from UKAAF (the UK Association for Accessible Formats), issued at the beginning of each school term. In this update we havedetails of lots more resources available in UEB, some tips on braille software and finish with a braille song! Please click on the links that are underlined in each paragraph for further information on the topics covered.

UEB training

The UEB update courses which took place in the Autumn term bring to a close the face to face training being provided to existing braille users in UEB. If you did not manage to attend any of the courses or if you would like to revise some of the work covered, the main principles of UEB along with practice exercises and answers are available to download from the UKAAF website in the training and resources section

In addition RNIB continues to offer the services of an experienced trainer who can visit your own organisation to deliver a day’s bespoke training in UEB

Braille Reading schemes in UEB

After a long wait, RNIB is pleased to announce that Abi Books 1-20 are now available in Unified English Braille (UEB). Each book is a humorous story about the adventures of a young blind girl aimed at giving extra practice to young readers. The set of books cost £40 (code TC21429) and can be orderedfrom Customer Services on 0303 123 9999 or from the online shop We will be releasing the remaining books (21-40) as soon as possible

Duxbury Braille software and UEB

For those of you using Duxbury to produce UEB, we have spotted some useful features in the new 11.3 version of the software. Two that maybe of interest are

You can ask Duxbury to convert a braille file in SEB to a braille file in UEB.
You can import a braille file and translate it into a standard Word file (including maths).

Using UEB for Mathematics

This new and comprehensive booklet is available to purchase for £9.99 from RNIB Customer Services on 0303 123 9999. Both the print version(code TC21445) and braille version (code TC21446) are also available to order on line

This book is a guide to representing mathematics in UEB. Covering topics such as numbers and arithmetic signs, superscripts and subscripts, square roots, fractions and decimals, unit abbreviations, date and time, algebra, trigonometry and geometry, Greek letters, vectors and matrices; this book is a practical guide for those wanting to show maths in UEB.

The book also includes appendices giving examples of set-out arithmetic calculations, a list of symbols and details on the use of the grade 1 indicator.

Music resources now available in UEB

One of the key texts for learning both the piano and the braille music code is now available in UEB. The twelve lessons take the student to about grade 2 of the Associated Board standard.

Braille music for beginners for the piano by Joan Partridge is available to purchase on line in print or in braille for £9.95. Also available from RNIB customer services (0303 123 9999)

UEB podcast

UKAAF now has a set of six podcasts explaining UEB, available to download from its website . Each of the 10 minute episodes explains different aspects of the changes in an easy conversational style. Topics include; contractions, punctuations and money and measuring. The podcasts are also available on a CD from RNIB customer services (0303 123 9999)

RNIB braille library and UEB

All new braille books produced by RNIB are now in UEB. They will not be re-publishing all their SEB books in UEB as that is not practical. However where classics and popular books are concerned, specifically those for children and young people, they will be looking to re-publish (as has already happened with the Harry Potter series). If there are specific titles that you or your colleagues would like to have made available in UEB they ask you to email with your recommendations

World Braille day

And finally… a nod to World Braille Day which took place on the 4th January, Louis Braille’s birthday. I leave you with a fabulous song charting the achievements of Mr Braille available from the great website Paths to Literacy mentioned previously in this bulletin. A great one to sing along to!

Get in touch

We'd love to hear your views on UEB and what you want from these email updates. Get in touch with Mandy White, UKAAF Braille Subject Lead by emailing

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